CHAPTER 59: CHAPTER 59: INTERCEPTING THE ABERRATIONS

"We’ve been ordered to immediately reinforce the southern cemetery and intercept the mysterious entities," Wang Xiyi also received the message, "The City Defense Guard and the Federation Army’s Fifth Armored Brigade stationed in Tianfu City have been deployed, but without a Hunter present, the military may not be able to stop those mysterious creatures."

"The intelligence on those mysterious entities has already been stored in your communication terminals!" Song Yarong said on the other end of the phone, "Since you say they came from sixty-five years ago, even these ’outdated’ intelligence reports might be of some use, I suppose!"

Sun Hang glanced at the temporary barracks in the distance, where nearly half of the 188 people had turned transparent and vanished.

The things touched by these people also had a certain probability of showing signs of becoming transparent—most strikingly, a middle-aged man at the center of the camp, when he vanished, took with him everything within a fifteen-meter radius, leaving behind a fifteen-meter-deep, barren pit in the ground.

Under the officers’ orders, the soldiers quickly abandoned the first blockade line and retreated to the more distant second blockade line, deploying tear gas and high-pressure hoses to suppress those trying to break out.

At this point, no one cared about their identity or status; to the soldiers, those trying to crawl over and grab their ankles were as terrifying as zombies from a movie.

"I’ll leave this to you," Sun Hang said to the colonel, "Also, could you arrange a helicopter for us?"

"Us? Handle this?" The colonel was taken aback, "How are we supposed to handle it?"

"Aren’t you handling it well enough now?" Sun Hang replied, "The real ’spawn point’ is at the southern cemetery. These people seem to be mere pawns used by the mysterious entities to divert attention."

"It’s not entirely just to divert attention. The person who vanished taking everything within fifteen meters is the secretary from the Investigation Bureau’s Director’s Office. If he hadn’t been brought here, the entire Investigation Bureau would likely be in chaos by now," Yang Lian added.

"If I remember correctly, the Director and Deputy Director of the Investigation Bureau are among these people too, right... How many people are left in the bureau?" Sun Hang asked.

"All senior leaders are here, and about a quarter of the middle leaders are left," Yang Lian said, "After the second temporal swap, the Investigation Bureau suffered over seventy percent personnel loss and now can barely maintain daily operations, essentially losing the capacity to conduct field operations."

"What about the temporary investigators?"

"Almost all perished at the southern cemetery and couldn’t be replenished in time," Yang Lian answered.

"After all, fools like me aren’t around every day."

"The main source for temporary investigators comes from prisons, where the Investigation Bureau signs employment contracts with inmates using sentence reduction as a bargaining chip."

"It’s a sell-out contract," Sun Hang corrected.

"Alright then, in the entire Tianfu City, the only combat force available is just me and Wang Xiyi, eh?" Sun Hang glanced at the list of mysterious entities Song Yarong sent over, seeing at least fifty or sixty creatures emerging from the southern cemetery, not to mention those unmonitored yet.

The disparity in combat strength was simply staggering.

"And us." Ye Xuan’s voice suddenly came from behind.

Changes had already occurred, and Ye Xuan’s status flipped from a dangerous element who hijacked the base commander to a hero who could turn the tide—although no one said so now, commendations and awards would surely follow, likely dominating the headlines of Xiazhou Federation’s major media outlets.

As for her father, he was definitely safe now.

"Aren’t you going back to Chunming City?"

"I came here to resolve this matter, and since it’s not yet solved, how could I go back?" Ye Xuan pulled two heavy ballistic panels from her tactical vest and tossed them aside—against mysterious entities, these items were merely burdens.

Before Sun Hang could speak, Ye Xuan continued, "Among my team members are four Mysterious Creature Hunters, perfectly supplementing your lack of combat power. Besides, I’ve received rigorous training from a young age and have personally dealt with mysterious entities, so there’s no need to assign people to protect me specifically."

"I never said I was going to protect you..." Sun Hang muttered quietly.

Ye Xuan’s expression paused slightly, but quickly returned to normal, "That’s great, let’s not delay any further, get on the helicopter, and we’ll discuss the tactical arrangements on the way."

In an air force base, there was no shortage of aircraft; by the time Sun Hang and his group arrived at helipad one, a dark green camouflaged military helicopter was already waiting for them. With the roar of noise, the rotor blades visibly increased their speed.

Sun Hang was the first to climb into the cabin.

The helicopter pilot was a black man who turned to Sun Hang and smiled, "Hey man! Welcome to Black Mamba 24 Airborne Express, remember to fasten your seatbelt!"

The black guy’s Mandarin was quite clear, even carrying the regional accent characteristic of the Shuzhou District.

"How long from here to the southern bridge?" Sun Hang asked.

"If playing it safe, fifteen minutes," the black guy clenched his fist, "But if you’re up for some thrill, nine minutes, I can get you there in nine minutes!"

"Then please floor the throttle," Sun Hang said.

Wang Xiyi was the kind of beast capable of skydiving from several hundred meters without a parachute, and Sun Hang wasn’t far behind—never mind flying a helicopter, even if they were strapped to a missile, they’d probably land safely.

The last special action team member barely fastened his seatbelt before the helicopter left the ground, rapidly ascending into the air.

"The overall command of this interception operation is fully entrusted to the Mysterious Creature Disaster Response Committee located in Chunming City," once Ye Xuan sat down, she immediately informed Sun Hang and Wang Xiyi of the operational arrangements, "The entire operation plan will be remotely coordinated and commanded by them. Besides this, Hunters from various towns and districts are being urgently mobilized and will support Tianfu City in batches."

"But before reinforcements arrive, you six Hunters are our only deployable combat strength," Ye Xuan continued, "You should already know that the first round of interception is positioned at the southern bridge, with the Fifth Armored Brigade’s engineers planting explosives under the bridge. Our task is to hold off those mysterious entities until the explosives detonate, securing as much time for the allied forces as possible."

As they spoke, the helicopter had already flown out of the mountainous area and was soaring over Tianfu City. Sun Hang could faintly hear the city’s overall broadcasts below—

"Serious mysterious entity invasion disaster detected, residents are advised to stay at home, lock doors and windows, avoid going out... For any emergencies, please call... seek out sturdy and safe hiding places nearby... we will open twenty-seven public shelters, located at... please maintain order..."

"By the way, has Tianfu City ever faced such a large-scale mysterious entity invasion?" Sun Hang asked.

"Not in the past hundred years," Yang Lian replied, "Even if you extend the scope to the entire Xiazhou Federation, invasions of this magnitude are rare."